Bensenville reaches deal on razing homes for runway

Bensenville officials have reached a tentative agreement with Chicago that could lead to the demolition of more than 600 buildings in the path of a new O'Hare International Airport runway.

Mary Dickson, a village attorney, told DuPage County Judge Kenneth Popejoy today that the village board met in executive session Tuesday and approved a settlement with Chicago that could be finalized within the next week.

Attorneys on both sides of the case declined to make terms of the agreement public until it is finalized.

Popejoy, following a week-long hearing in 2008, declared the planned demolitions constitutional and legal, but in January the 2nd District Appellate Court remanded the issue for more clarification on the potential environmental impact of the demolition.

Both sets of attorneys have told Popejoy several times since the April election of a new village president and several new village board members that negotiations over the issue were ongoing.

Previous Bensenville officials had fought the airport expansion for a decade, claiming it wasn't needed and that Chicago was destroying Bensenville.

Chicago, which has purchased properties on the east side of Bensenville over the past few years, claims the airport is a major economic engine of the region and the expansion project is needed.